We started the morning rounds in the ICU this morning. I told you about a young man whose family had poisoned him. Now there is a young woman in the ICU, also for poisoning from her family. This seems to be fairly common and very sad. I saw a baby die today. He had meningitis and had appeared to be doing much better this morning. I watched uselessly as Dr. Rimi tried to revive him this afternoon. They have very high death rates here.
I was reading in the ‘Hindustan Times’ paper yesterday. India finally came out with its own statistics about their HIV statistics and how they’re “only” (it actually said ONLY) 3 million and something, not the 5 million and something that came out in the UNAIDS report. I wonder how much time and energy and funding was poured into this report.
I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed for several reasons. Obviously, this is nothing like anything I’ll see in the US. On top of the sheer intensity of the cases and the people, not understanding their language is stressful. It’s exhausting even to talk with the doctors because of their accents and because they are so soft spoken. I feel very foreign here and I’m staying in the guest house alone. They tell me that there are usually other students, but for now I am the only one, so it’s a bit lonely, especially since there isn’t much to do outside of work. I’m realizing how much I have to learn too, also exhausting, but a good thing. I think I’ll leave here with a renewed focus. There’s so much to learn and review. I’m wishing I had my text books with me. I’m learning so much about medicine and life. Keep me in your thoughts and prayers.